AbstractThe World Bank report on Diversified Development assesses the economic performance of Eurasia since the early 1990s and its future prospects. The report covers the eastern part of Europe and Central Asia, including the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Three quarters of the region’s population live in resource-rich countries, with which the other countries have close economic ties.

This lecture, by one of the authors of the Diversified Development report, will describe key findings. The focus will be on how the resource-rich countries of Eurasia have benefited from global economic growth. The region has recovered from the recession of the 1990s and is integrating into the world economy, primarily through its abundant natural resources. Eurasia has more than one third of the world’s reserves of oil, gas, bauxite and gold, and prices for these commodities have surged since 2000, boosting resource-related revenues. The other countries of Eurasia have also benefitted from the resource abundance of their neighbours through trade, capital flows and remittances. The lecture will discuss these findings and their implications for future economic growth.

BiographyMr. Ivailo Izvorski is a Sector Manager of the Macroeconomic Unit in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Department of the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank. Prior to this, Mr. Ivailo Izvorski worked as a Lead Economist in the PREM Department of the East Asia and Pacific region of the World Bank. He holds a PhD in Economics from Yale University.

Language

The presentation will be in English. Russian translation provided upon prior request.